The Masque of the Red Death
Character Analysis

A personification of the awful, bloody disease that is killing Prince Prospero’s countrymen in "The Masque of the Red Death." At first, he is a background presence, while Prospero’s masked dancers forget all about the world outside, but he somehow comes to appear in the abbey, dressed like death and bloodied like his victims. By the end of the story holds “illimitable dominion over all.”

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The Masque of the Red Death Character Timeline in Poe's Stories

The timeline below shows where the character The Masque of the Red Death appears in Poe's Stories. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

The Masque of the Red Death

...something that will touch his sensible side, and for Prince Prospero, this figure does that. The figure is completely masked, from head to foot, as if dressed for the grave. Within the...
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The figure moves slowly among the waltzers and starts to shake with rage as he sees Prince...
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...the figure in the shadows is now intangible, save for the mask and grave-like robes. The Red Death captures each dancer, one by one, the clock stops and the lights go out, and...
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